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No one who played in the Summer League or Rocky Mountain Revue may have more misleading numbers than Amundson. Not only did he play hurt in 7 of his 8 games, but he also saw limited minutes in most of Philadelphias contests. Amundson is the type of workhorse player that quickly grabs attention in a Summer League setting, translating his aggressiveness into production.

On the offensive end, Amundson works hard for everything he gets. He fights for position on the block, and never gives up on offensive rebounds. Amundsons rebounding numbers arent representative of his impact on the glass, since he tips numerous misses to teammates and grabs essentially every loose ball even remotely in his area. Though his jumper isnt terribly consistent, it can be a weapon when he has time and space. Most of Amundsons baskets this week came from dunks and layups off of posts up, fast breaks, and pick and rolls. Amundson finishes quite a few tip dunks, since he runs the floor so hard behind the initial break.

Amundson is dynamite at using pump fakes when he faces resistance around the rim, and protects the ball with his body to get to the line. Amundson appeared to have turned things around from the line early in the Summer League, but quickly reverted back to his inconsistent nature. The only positive on that front is that his shot appears to have much more touch, and that is something that wasnt true about his stroke from the line in the past.

Defensively, Amundson goes after every shot that goes up in his vicinity. Though he doesnt always get the block, he does a sound job of altering shots without fouling. In back to the basket situations, Amundson doesnt give up any easy buckets, fronting his man and using leverage to take away passing angles. One of the things that made Amundson an effective defender this week was his competitiveness. Amundson is not afraid to get dunked on, and didnt back down from anyone in any situation.

It is hard not to enjoy watching Amundson play, as he does all the little things to help his team win. Take his screen setting ability for example; Amundson gets low and wide when setting screens, making it easy for his teammates to rub their man off and turn the corner. While things like that wont show up in the boxscore, they are the things that made Amundsons performances in Vegas and Salt Lake City so impressive. Amundson was easily the hardest working player in the Summer League, and he did his best work on a sprained ankle that caused him to miss an entire game. His production while injured is a telling example of type of player he is.

One of the most entertaining players seen here all week, Louis Amundson did not stop hustling from the second he got off the plane in Orlando and until the moment the camp ended. Amundson got off to a great start right as things kicked off in day one, working his butt off in the drills and giving his matchup fits with his relentless motor. The most impressive thing he showed here had to be his activity level, as he is always the first one to hit the glass thanks to his terrific quickness, and is usually up off his feet to try and put-back the offensive rebound before the defense can react. Defensively, Amundson scraps, claws, flops, hustles and generally gives everything he has in the tank for every moment he is on the floor. He is a pesky type who gets right underneath your skin and does not relent until he either fouls out or drives his matchup insane. Offensively, Amundson is raw, and has no problem showing you that, but he managed to do his damage with his excellent quickness and leaping ability by catching the ball around the paint and scoring off of one or two short dribbles. Anything else gets him in trouble as his ball-handling skills are very poor, and you could hear the crowd groan in angst every time he stepped onto the free throw line. Amundsons athleticism and rebounding ability reminds a bit of David Lee, while his work-ethic and attitude are comparable to Mark Madsen. Amundson may or may not be drafted depending on how much value teams put in a lunch-pail type garbageman, but its hard to not see him making a team through summer league or training camp.

Thus far, Amundson has been one of the biggest surprises of this tournament, and has improved his stock here as much as anybody. He is a great energy player and has a terrific nose for the ball, especially on the glass. He was helping his team tremendously on both ends of the court today, breaking up passes, tracking down loose balls, attacking the glass, and scoring around the basket.

Offensively, Amundson is not a particularly skilled player, not having much outside scoring ability and only being a decent ball-handler. He has a little bit of a post-game, but gets most of his points slashing to the basket, dumping in easy shots around the rim, and getting putbacks on the offensive glass. Today he was constantly around the basket, scoring both in transition and in the halfcourt, mostly by getting open around the basket or putting back an offensive rebound. He also got to the line frequently, but wasnt able to convert many of his free throws, as his shot mechanics are poor and hes not an efficient shooter from the line. Some notable things he did around the basket today were putting down an alley-oop, hitting a hook shot posting up, scoring a reverse lay-up, and getting a couple of And-1 opportunities.

As mentioned above, Amundson has a terrific nose for the ball with rebounds, and is constantly amidst the action with players bigger and stronger than he, though he always seems to get a hand on the ball or pull down the rebound. His knack for rebounding the ball is not unlike David Lees, who is a player he compares fairly favorably to. The main thing he lacks that Lee possesses is Lees excellent passing and ball-handling abilities for a power forward. Lee also developed somewhat of a mid-range jump shot recently, which is something Amundson should invest time in developing. Amundsons only attempt at a mid-range shot today was easily blocked by the larger Justin Williams.

Defensively, Amundson was solid, breaking up passes and even getting a blocked shot early in the game on Justin Williams. Hes yet to show if he has the lateral quickness to guard most small forwards or if he has the strength to guard most power forwards, so hes a bit of a tweener in that sense. His matchup today was Steven Smith, another tweener forward, so he didnt have any especial difficulty in man-to-man defense.

Strengths Much improved big man with average size and decent length. Doesnt have a huge frame but makes the most of it. Keeps himself in good shape and uses his strength to the fullest.

An above average athlete at the college level; moves well, gets off the floor nicely and is quick to react to things happening around him on the floor. Most of his productivity comes off his sheer desire and tenacious style of play.

Offensively, he does almost all of his damage running the floor in transition or within 8 feet of the basket. Hes aggressive establishing position in the paint, and has a few fundamental moves he uses mostly with his back to the basket, including a quick and strong drop step, a simple jump-hook shot, quick spin moves in the post, and an awkward looking turnaround jump-shot.

Amundson is an unselfish player who plays for the team, understands his role on the floor, sets strong picks and executes well in half-court sets. Hes not a bad passer, even from the perimeter, and will find the open man cutting to the basket with a bounce pass or make the extra pass out of the double team. Hes generally a smart passer who doesnt make many mistakes and possesses a solid understanding of the game.

Defensively, Amundson scraps, hustles and shows strong fundamentals to go along with a good motor. He is a pesky defender who likes to get in his mans face and puts a lot of effort and pride into this part of his game.

His best skill as far as his NBA potential goes is definitely his rebounding ability. Amundson crashes the glass with the best of them at the NCAA level, using his slithery quickness, long arms, excellent boxing out technique and solid toughness to rebound in traffic or out of his area. He has good hands and is extremely active in this area, corralling rebounds with a no-nonsense attitude and swinging his elbows around like its no ones business.

In terms of intangibles, Amundson appears to be a very smart and coachable player both on and off the court who is willing to put the effort in to get better. Hes improved vastly in his five years in college, graduating early cum laude with a degree in philosophy and now working on another degree in financial accounting. The time he spent at Pete Newells big man camp last summer appears to have helped him out a great deal.

WeaknessesAt 6-9, Amundson doesnt have great size for the power forward spot even if he does make the transition to that position down the road. Hes a good athlete for the conference he plays in, but is definitely not a spectacular one.

There are some questions to be answered about his position at the next level and how his skills translate to what is expected from players there.

Defensively, he does not have any experience defending the perimeter and shows average lateral quickness regardless, meaning that he is certainly a power forward in the NBA. Offensively he is a back to the basket center in college who possesses very little skills outside of the paint. His ball-handling is virtually non-existent and he has no range on his jump shot outside of 12 feet. Amundson shot 29% from the free throw line as a junior, but improved to 57% this season. That, along with the poor touch he shows on his jump shot tells you everything you need to know about where his mid-range game stands at the moment.

In terms of productivity, Amundson isnt much more than a solid role-player in a mid-major conference. The competition his team goes up against is nothing to write home about, especially in terms of big men. His production is limited somewhat by foul trouble and the fact that he tends to get winded easily if hes on the floor for too long. This is not a surprise, though, considering how hard he plays.

Being a 5th senior who is already 23 years old, there are some questions about how much potential he has left in him to improve.

CompetitionAmundson plays for UNLV in the Mountain West conference, the same conference that produced two top-20 picks last year in Andrew Bogut and Danny Granger. This year the conference is definitely in a down year and will almost certainly be receiving only the one automatic bid for the NCAA tournament.

UNLV is currently in the midst of another turbulent season under 2nd year head coach Lon Kruger (former head coach of the Atlanta Hawks), playing a pretty tough out of conference schedule which saw them drop 5 straight games in early December. They currently sit at 11-8 overall and 5-2 in the MWC, but will definitely be in the mix for the automatic bid coming from the Mountain West conference tournament in March.

How Amundson fared against the best competition he has gone up against:

OutlookAmundson is a 2nd round prospect who will most likely have to prove himself at the various draft camps (Portsmouth and/or Chicago) to ensure a chance at being drafted. His aggressive style of play suits these camps well, so it would not be a surprise to see him do well there. He could just as well go undrafted and try to make his way into the NBA through summer league and training camp, like many players in his mold have done before.

In terms of his NBA potential, there is a lot to like about him despite his obvious shortcomings. Hes the type of hustling big man that certain coaches in the league love to have in their rotation, and his strong intangibles can give him that extra boost that he oh so needs.